TUI Close to Selecting Shipyards

Details

October 02, 2008

TUI Cruises’ expects to choose a shipyard for the refitting of the 1,900-passenger Galaxy by the end of this month, a spokeswoman told Cruise Industry News. And a yard will also be selected for TUI’s two new 2,500-passenger, 100,000-ton ships by the end of this year.

TUI will convert the 1996-built Galaxy for the German market at a cost of 50 million euros. The ship will launch in Hamburg in May 2009. Her maiden season will consist of 10-night cruises in the Baltic through September – and 11-night cruises in the Western Mediterranean from Palma de Mallorca from September through November – before repositioning to the Caribbean, where she will sail two alternating seven-day itineraries from Santo Domingo.

For 2009, TUI expects roughly 50,000 passengers, said the spokeswoman. “TUI is Germany’s leading tour operator, and we believe our impact on the German market will be considerable.”